What's new

China Taiwan Province (ROC): News, Discussions & Images

Bogus labels, radiation fears prompt Taiwan to strengthen rules on Japanese food imports - AJW by The Asahi Shimbun

HONG KONG--Taiwan said April 16 it will further tighten regulations on food imports from Japan after forged place-of-origin labels allowed entry of banned products from Fukushima and four other prefectures.

Tokyo has expressed opposition to Taiwan’s new rules, fearing other countries and regions will follow suit.

The Japanese government has already sought an easing of Taiwan’s current ban on food produced or manufactured in Fukushima, Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma and Chiba prefectures over concerns of radiation contamination resulting from the 2011 accident at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.

However, the administration of Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou had been strongly criticized over a recent series of food safety issues. It decided to take action after it was revealed in March that some food products produced in those five Japanese prefectures had been imported with phony labels saying they were from elsewhere.

Announced by the Taiwan Food and Drug Administration, the stricter regulations will require every food item imported from Japan to carry an official document that proves place of origin by prefecture. Foods from certain regions and specified products will also require documents that show the results of radiation checks.

When the new regulations take effect after 30 days, a huge amount of paperwork on the Japanese side will become necessary.

Taiwan will require documents on the results of radiation checks in three categories: marine products from Tokyo and Miyagi, Iwate and Ehime prefectures; tea from Tokyo and the prefectures of Shizuoka, Aichi and Osaka; and dairy products, baby food, sugar confectioneries and other select products produced in Tokyo and the prefectures of Miyagi and Saitama.

Some of the prefectures listed in the three categories are far from Fukushima Prefecture. However, a Taiwan FDA official said, “We chose the products based on the results of past (radiation) checks.”

In 2014, Taiwan imported agricultural, forestry and fishery products and foods worth 83.7 billion yen ($703 million) from Japan. Taiwan is Japan’s third largest importer of those products, following Hong Kong and the United States.
 
I'd stop buying Japanese food if i was in Taiwan/HK. Can't trust them after they forged the labels but then again i did advocate not to eat anything from Japan since the disaster.

It is exactly what I see people are doing, as far as I can tell. A popular Japanese chain grocery store is said to have closed down many branches. The one near my place is near empty and they try to promote sales through 买一送一 like deals.

People pay attention to not to consume Japanese and US products.

LOL. Not that Taiwan's own record is super clean. Food security has always been a major concern. No wonder it is our bright businessmen who invented gutter oil.
 
It is exactly what I see people are doing, as far as I can tell. A popular Japanese chain grocery store is said to have closed down many branches. The one near my place is near empty and they try to promote sales through 买一送一 like deals.

People pay attention to not to consume Japanese and US products.

You should watch out for Taiwanese food too, can't trust those gutter oil used in all kinds of products from buns to skewers found on street.
 
I'd stop buying Japanese food if i was in Taiwan/HK. Can't trust them after they forged the labels but then again i did advocate not to eat anything from Japan since the disaster.

Yeah, my family and I haven't been eating any imported Japanese food since the disaster started. I'm sure there are others in our neighborhood, as well. But, I have a feeling the Japanese will try to force it on us. The South Koreans are already feeling the Japanese heat.

Japan takes South Korea to WTO over Fukushima-related food import restrictions| Reuters
 
The problem is fish or other seafood from the sea or the pacific.

Japan may force the contaminated seafood into Taiwanese market. But still it all comes down to people's choice. In this respect, being overcautious is the way to go because Taiwan media and the businessmen that are linked to Japan is not really to be trusted.
 
Japan may force the contaminated seafood into Taiwanese market. But still it all comes down to people's choice. In this respect, being overcautious is the way to go because Taiwan media and the businessmen that are linked to Japan is not really to be trusted.

What about Taiwanese fishermen fishing in the strait of Taiwan or somewhere in the Pacific? It's not just Japanese seafood being imported in Taiwan. If the nuclear elements keep on leaking into the Ocean, the larger fish will continue to build up the nuclear waste from eating the smaller prey.
 
What about Taiwanese fishermen fishing in the strait of Taiwan or somewhere in the Pacific? It's not just Japanese seafood being imported in Taiwan. If the nuclear elements keep on leaking into the Ocean, the larger fish will continue to build up the nuclear waste from eating the smaller prey.

I think the risk is there, as you rightly pointed out. And I guess it is a concern for any country that is fishing in the areas affected by contamination. Personally, I believe, other than stop buying seafood directly imported from Japan, other option would be buying seafood that is produced at home rather than caught in the open seas.
 
The problem is fish or other seafood from the sea or the pacific.
You're right. The biggest problem is seafood in the surrounding waters of the Fukushima disaster. I don't think we can , with 100% accuracy, filter those seafood.
 
You're right. The biggest problem is seafood in the surrounding waters of the Fukushima disaster. I don't think we can , with 100% accuracy, filter those seafood.

Read the letter from one Japanese doctor who's not afraid to go against the current and speak out the truth. Tokyo is inhabitable, and unfit for visitors and tourists.

the scariest part is the fact that the radiation leakage hasn't stopped after all these years, and continues on to this day, so the problem is getting worse and worse as time progresses. I wonder if there will come a time when even Western Japan where this doctor has moved to, will also become uninhabitable as the radiation pollution spreads.
 
I think the risk is there, as you rightly pointed out. And I guess it is a concern for any country that is fishing in the areas affected by contamination. Personally, I believe, other than stop buying seafood directly imported from Japan, other option would be buying seafood that is produced at home rather than caught in the open seas.

That's probably the safest option. Fukushima really f*cked up the region affecting everybody there depending on seafood. Also Japanese inability to solve the problem have only made it worse. Japan shouldn't even use nuclear reactors in the first place as it is in the ring of fire.
 
Read the letter from one Japanese doctor who's not afraid to go against the current and speak out the truth. Tokyo is inhabitable, and unfit for visitors and tourists.

the scariest part is the fact that the radiation leakage hasn't stopped after all these years, and continues on to this day, so the problem is getting worse and worse as time progresses. I wonder if there will come a time when even Western Japan where this doctor has moved to, will also become uninhabitable as the radiation pollution spreads.

True, but the Japanese govt will never admit it.
 

Pakistan Defence Latest Posts

Military Forum Latest Posts

Back
Top Bottom